After 18 months of consultation and planning, the five-year plan has revealed the goal of boosting production by almost a billion litres, adding $500 million in farm gate value and growing confidence in the industry.
On paper, it sounds like a positive way forward.
But it's the implementation that counts.
Collectively led by Dairy Australia, Australian Dairy Farmers, Australian Dairy Products Federation and Gardiner Dairy Foundation, the plan hasn't been welcomed by all.
And it's going to be a big task to unite everyone across the country, especially when no dairy farm, let alone dairy region, is the same.
The challenge under the one-size-fits-all plan is to bring together all sectors of the industry — farmers, processors, research and development scientists and marketing people, when occasionally the interests of these parties have been different.
It's an exercise in trust and unity.
The aims of increasing trust, transparency and boosting confidence are noble ones, but goals that will undoubtedly run into memories of clawbacks and low farm gate prices.
How do you repair years of anger and distrust?
The hope is that centralised advocacy and representation can hit the cultural ‘reset’ button.
Feedback to the dairy plan's draft plan uncovered a belief that the fragmentation of advocacy had led to poor outcomes in achieving policy changes.
The irony is that many farmers have opted out of membership of advocacy bodies, resulting in fewer resources for those organisations and as a result, delivering less impact on political leaders.
Can that issue be solved by the dairy plan?
Having one body to drive this plan forward will take cool heads, dedication and an ability to compromise and see the big picture.
It will be about the the greatest good for the greatest number.
At the end of the day, the challenge is to convert the aspirations for high performance, efficiency and flexibility into a reality.
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